Lilly Saves the Day
by Gordon Pasha
Summary: The pack once again faces extinction as a new enemy makes their move. Unfortunately for Jasper, Kate, Humphrey, Garth and the pack leaders have all left the valley on official business. Only Lilly is left to try and defend their home. Will it be too much for her, or can the sweet and shy Omega actually save the day?
1. Invasion

**For all my fellow Lilly fans out there, a story where it's up to our favorite white she-wolf to save the pack from destruction.**

******The movie Alpha and Omega, it's plot and characters, are copyright of Lionsgate and Crest Animation Studios, etc., etc.**

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A caribou dashed through the forest glade, running as fast as it could to avoid its pursuers. Straight behind it ran Hutch and Can-do, each trying to overtake their prey. They managed to get up alongside it, with Hutch on the left of it and Can-do on the right, and began moving in to make the kill.

But it would never be. For suddenly, the caribou dropped in-between them. A grey blur had taken it down so fast that Hutch and Can-do did not even have a chance to slow or stop. They kept running, exchanging confused glances, until they themselves fell to the ground.

Two wolves were on top of them. Neither of these was very big and had only been able to knock the Betas down because they had not been expecting an attack. Hutch and Can-do easily forced them off and got up, preparing to take down these intruders. The new wolves no longer paid attention to them, instead going to help their comrade with the caribou.

"Those runts have just cost the pack dinner!" Can-do barked. "I'll tear them apart!"

"Can-do…" Hutch said, looking over his shoulder behind them.

"I'm going to teach them not to come into our territory and steal our caribou!"

"Can-do…"

"They're going to wish they were never born!"

"Can-do!"

"What?" Can-do turned to Hutch, clearly upset to be distracted from the objects of his fury.

But Hutch was worried about something more than Can-do's temper. He pointed over his shoulder. Can-do looked to see a number of other wolves approaching them. These were wolves of all different sizes, but all of them were very muscular and strong. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, stood out in front and was the largest of them all. He was obviously the veteran of many battles, for he seemed to have more scars than fur. The fur he did have was light grey in color.

Hutch and Can-do prepared to interrogate this individual when they suddenly fell back to the ground. The two wolves they had thrown off had once again caught them by surprise. Meanwhile, the grey wolf who had caught the caribou was bringing a piece of the prey forward. He laid it at the leader's feet.

"This looks like a fine catch!" the leader said. "I shall have it for my supper!"

"You can't do that," Can-do said, "it's our caribou!"

The menacing grey wolf now acted like he noticed Hutch and Can-do for the first time. He walked over. "Get off them, boys. Let's give these two the proper respect."

His lackeys got off of the Betas, allowing them to get up. Can-do began growling but Hutch decided to take a more diplomatic approach.

"You're trespassing in our territory," he said, "State your name and your pack's purpose here."

Every wolf of the enemy pack began to laugh easily. Their leader smiled, revealing sharp teeth stained with blood. He began to speak, "So, you boys belong to some pack out here, is that right?"

"Yes, the Jasper unified wolf pack," Hutch said, "but you haven't answered my question."

"Well," the grey wolf answered, "we wouldn't want to be rude, would we? My name is Timur and I led this pack here from up north. We heard this valley has good caribou and we decided to come see for ourselves."

"You can't have any! It's ours!" Can-do snapped.

Timur laughed. "That's just fine, son, if you don't want to give us any. We don't mind."

"Then what is your pack's reason for being here if not for the caribou?" Hutch asked.

"I never said my pack wasn't here for caribou. But if you want me to spell it out for you, my pack's purpose here is to raid, pillage, plunder, and destroy this valley. We're taking your caribou herd for ourselves. And there ain't anything you guys or your pack can do to stop it."

"You don't know our pack!" Can-do said. "We'll stop you!"

More laughter from Timur and his gang. "That's cute, son. Real cute. But we're still going to take the caribou. Now, get out of here."

"You're letting us go?" Hutch asked, not believing it.

Timur smiled evilly. "Yeah. You see, I'm a sporting fellow and my pack here loves nothing better than a good fight. If we're taking these caribou by force, it should at least be fun. We're going to let you two go and warn your pack so that they have a fair chance to stop us. It'll make it so much more rewarding when we kill them all."

Can-do growled and prepared to pounce, even though he could not beat the odds facing him. But Hutch grabbed him and whispered, "We've got no chance here. It'll be better if we go get Winston and Kate and the other Alphas. Then we will be able to stop these jerks."

Reluctantly, Can-do nodded and followed Hutch. They ran from the spot and hurried to Winston and Eve's den. It was a long way away but their anxiety gave them increased speed and they covered the distance in only a few minutes.

"Winston, come quick!" Hutch yelled. "There's an emergency, come quick!"

"What kind of an emergency?" This was not Winston's voice. It was not even male. Hutch and Can-do recognized it immediately as the voice of Winston's sweet daughter, Lilly.

She walked out of the den, her lavender eyes looking at them with concern. "Is it something important?"

"Lilly, where's Winston and Eve?" Hutch asked, obviously very surprised.

"Mom and dad had to leave in a hurry," Lilly answered. "They and Tony were called to a special meeting of the pack leaders of the region. So, what's the emergency?"

"If they're not here," Hutch said, "are Kate and Humphrey around somewhere?"

Lilly shook her head. "No, they both went up into the mountains. Kate said she wanted to show Humphrey how to patrol the area in case we ever needed him to. But you can tell me what the problem is."

Hutch and Can-do exchanged nervous looks. "What about Garth," Hutch said. "He's got to be nearby if you're here."

Lilly sighed. "He's not here either. One of the instructors at Alpha School was sick so they asked Garth to teach the class for today. But I'm sure I can help with whatever's wrong."

"They can't all be gone!" Hutch said.

"Nobody tells us anything anymore!" Can-do added with a growl.

Lilly nodded. "Yep. They're all gone. So I guess that means I'm the one responsible for sorting out your problem. What is it again?"

Hutch and Can-do once again exchanged nervous glances. "Is there anyone else we could talk to?" Hutch asked. "Like one of those squirrels or bluebirds that are always hanging around?"

"Maybe we could go see those weird vegetarian wolves," Can-do suggested. Like Hutch, he was thinking that anybody or anything would make a better leader than Lilly.

Lilly walked over. "You two just don't think I can do anything, do you?"

"No, no!" both of the wolves said together. They knew she was right but they felt it was better not to insult the daughter of their leaders.

"It's just that…" Hutch tried to come up with something convincing. "You're such a shy girl, we don't know if you'd have enough experience for this. We don't want to get you in over your head."

"Eve would kill us," Can-do muttered.

Lilly was determined, showing more resolve than the Betas had ever seen in her. "Maybe I don't really have any experience being a real leader but I'm the only thing you've got right now. If I don't do it, who will?"

"I still vote for the vegetarians," Can-do remarked. Hutch elbowed him. Rather than shutting him up, this only caused him to growl more.

Lilly smiled. "If you don't let me at least try, then how will you ever fix it? Besides, how bad can it be?"

Hutch laughed nervously. "We'll tell you on the way."

Lilly's eyes lit up. "Okay, let's go!" She jumped around, excited to finally be handling a major pack decision for the first time in her life.

Hutch and Can-do watched Lilly excitedly run out in front of them, both knowing that she had no clue as to what she had just gotten herself into.


	2. Negotiation

"Okay," Hutch said, "In case a fight does break out, do you have any skills which you could use to defend yourself?"

Lilly was walking through the tall grass beside him, now very nervous since she knew the danger that faced her. But she was excited to talk about her special skill. She smiled and said, "I can do turtle impersonations!"

"Turtle impersonations?" Hutch asked, confused.

"Yep! I've been practicing and now I can do about sixteen different kinds!"

"Great," Can-do muttered behind them, "we're outnumbered, our best Alphas aren't around, and if worse comes to worst, she can do turtle impersonations! We're all going to die."

Lilly's smile disappeared and Hutch could tell that Can-do had hurt her feelings. "Don't mind him," he said, "he just gets grouchy when he thinks that we have no chance of avoiding a brutal death."

"I still don't like this, Hutch," Can-do said. "We should never have gotten Lilly involved in this! You know she can't handle it!"

"And Lilly's right here listening to all this," Lilly muttered. Then she looked back toward Can-do and said, "Come on, I know these guys are tough, but how bad can they be?"

And then she looked in front of her. She stopped. Her jaw dropped. She watched Timur and his pack marching toward her.

Timur ordered the pack to come to a stop as he reached the three. Then he looked from Hutch to Can-do.

"I thought I told you boys to go and get your pack leader," he said. "But here it's just the two of you facing us alone!"

"We did bring our pack leader," Hutch said.

"She's not really our pack leader," Can-do whispered.

"Be quiet!" Hutch whispered back.

Timur looked between Hutch and Can-do again, trying to figure out where their pack leader was. Since he was so large and Lilly was so small, he could not even see her.

"I'm down here," Lilly said.

Timur looked down at her. Then he started laughing. "This is a joke, right? I mean, you can't be serious, can you?"

His laughed made Lilly nervous. She started to shake. "Wh-why?"

"This isn't a wolf," he said, "it's a poodle!"

The whole enemy pack began to laugh just like their leader.

"Alright, boys," Timur said, "normally I don't take kindly when wolves try to pull something over on me. But you've amused me. I like a sense of humor in someone I'm about to kill. So, I'm going to give you boys one last chance to go get your real pack leader and then we'll fight it out."

"But… but," Lilly said, "I'm the daughter of our pack's leaders."

"Okay, honey," Timur said with an evil smile, "if you're the pack leader's daughter, then why are you so small and scrawny? Don't they even feed their own kids in this pack?"

"I am an Omega."

Timur looked confused. "What's an Omega?"

"You know, Alphas do the hunting and fighting while the Omegas keep the peace," Lilly said cautiously. "That's our pack law. Don't you have Omegas in your pack?"

Timur shook his head. "No. We have one law in our pack. If you can't fight, then you ain't gonna live!"

Lilly could not understand this. "So… you just fight all the time? There's no peacemakers or anything?"

"Why would we need those?"

Lilly was getting very nervous talking to the big wolf, but she tried to sound brave.

"Because, that way you wouldn't have to fight all the time?"

Timur smiled. "But that's what we do. We go around, find a new pack, kill that pack, eat all their caribou, and then go find another pack to kill."  
Lilly cringed at the idea but Timur did not seem to notice. "It's a simple life," he said, "but we like it."

"It seems… barbaric," Lilly said.

Timur growled at her, showing all of his bloody fangs. Lilly started to whimper.

"Are you mocking me, you little rat?" he yelled. "I've killed eight-hundred seventy-two wolves by myself! And they were all a lot bigger and stronger than you!"  
As frightened as she was, something did not seem right to Lilly. "Exactly eight-hundred seventy-two wolves?"

Timur nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"It just seems like… an awfully specific number."

Timur snarled. "Okay, it was eight-hundred seventy-two and a half. That better?"

"How do you kill half a wolf?" Can-do remarked.

Lilly was now trying to hide within the tall grass. Her lavender eyes were about the only thing still visible. "It's just… it doesn't seem believable. I mean, how can you possibly keep track of that so precisely?"

"Look, it's simple mathematics!" Timur barked. "All you need to do is – Wait, why am I explaining any of this to you in the first place? You're all going to be food for the worms in a few hours anyway!"

Lilly now sat up. She smiled, trying to hide how scared she was. She did not succeed very well. She was shaking. But she said, "Um, Mr. Timur, the thing is… we don't actually like to fight wars in this pack. So could you maybe… not attack and kill us, please?"

Timur laughed evilly, as did his whole pack. As they laughed, Lilly looked at Hutch and Can-do. "What do I do now?" she whispered.

"I told you this wasn't going to work," Can-do whispered to Hutch.

"Not now, Can-do!" Hutch whispered back.

Timur kept laughing. "Ha ha, she wants us to spare her pack! She wants us not to fight them or to kill any of them! That's so funny!" Then he stopped laughing and looked at Lilly. "Sure," he said.

Lilly looked up in surprise and relief. "Oh… okay then! Thanks, Mr. Timur! Come on, Hutch, Can-do, let's get outta here!"

She began to walk away, but Hutch stopped her. He said to Timur, "You're just going to go home? After all you said about killing our whole pack? You're just going to leave us in peace? Why?"

Timur shrugged. "Nobody ever asked us nicely before. Usually, we attack another pack and then they come to fight us and we kill them. We've never had someone actually ask us to leave them alone."

"Let's go, guys," Lilly said.

Hutch and Can-do began to walk away with her, cautiously looking over their shoulders.

"You guys are way too paranoid," Lilly said.

Timur waved at them as they left. Once they had disappeared into the tall grass, another wolf came up to him. This wolf, a member of his own pack, was all black. But he had painted a red skull on his face and pictures of bones all along his body. His name was Ivan and he was Timur's lieutenant.

"Sir, we're not really going to just leave, are we?" Ivan said.

Timur smiled. "No, of course not!"

"But you said–"

Timur laughed. "Look at that pack of theirs! Scrawny wolves like that aren't even worth a fair fight! I said what I said so that they'll be caught off-guard. You see, we're going to sneak around to the back of the valley and launch a surprise attack. That way we can kill them all and just get it over with!"

Ivan smiled. "Oh, I knew it had to be something like that. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to lead the attack. It would be a perfect opportunity to try out some of the new _experiments _I've been working on.

Timur nodded. "I think it's time we tried them out, but if you want my advice, you'll use them for one thing first."

"What's that, sir?"

Timur's eyes lit up with evil. "First, you have to kill the poodle. Without their leader, the rest will be helpless. So first, kill that white she-wolf!"

"I think her name was Lilly, sir," Ivan said.

"That's right. Kill Lilly!"


	3. Sneak Attack

**Another (hopefully) exciting chapter of Lilly's adventure for you to (hopefully) enjoy. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and a big thanks to RexieCakes for reviewing the first two chapters.**

* * *

The sun stood at the high point of the sky. High noon, a time set aside for the resolution of conflicts in a suitably bloody and violent manner. But the Jasper pack was not preparing for conflict. As far as anybody knew, the fighting was over before it had even begun.

Lilly stood on the cliff outside of her parents' den, playing with a pine-cone. She was trying to balance it on her nose and would laugh whenever it fell off. Hutch and Can-do were standing nearby, watching her with confusion.

"That pack was actually very nice for marauders," Lilly said as she once again picked up the pine-cone and put it back on her nose. "The only thing is, am I really that small and scrawny?"

Can-do shrugged. "Aren't you?"

"Mom says I'm petite," Lilly said, her feelings hurt.

Hutch whispered to Can-do, "Do you want her to tell her mother you think she's scrawny?"

Can-do realized that he did not, so he said, "Of course you're not scrawny. Your… petite, like Eve says. Yeah, petite is good."

"Thanks, guys," Lilly said.

"But you know what?" Can-do said. "I don't trust those other wolves! They're up to something!"

"I agree with Can-do," Hutch said. "We should be doing something to prepare our defenses, not sitting around playing with pinecones."

"You guys worry too much," Lilly responded with a laugh.

Had she seen what was happening at the other end of the valley, she would not be so confident. For just then, three wolves were rushing out of the woods, carrying a long, thin log. When they reached a good spot, a big strong wolf balanced it on his back so that one side was on the ground and the other in the air. Several more wolves came out, pushing a very large boulder. The boulder was rolled onto the log.

Timur and Ivan now came out of the woods. "So what is does this thing do again?" Timur said.

Ivan grinned as he replied, "It's very simple, sir. You take a boulder and you put it on the end of the log. Then a wolf jumps on the other end of the log and shoots the boulder toward those cliffs over there. And then… splat!"

Timur laughed. "Oh, so it's like a catapult."

Ivan nodded. "Exactly."

A small wolf ran up to Timur. "The spies have reported back. They say the little white wolf and her two companions are on that cliff."

Timur turned toward the cliff. He saw a little white speck. He knew that it must be Lilly. "Alright, boys, don't fire until you see the white of her fur, and then let her have it!"

Ivan gave the signal and one large wolf jumped on the back of another. He was then about to jump onto the log, which would send the boulder flying.

Lilly continued to play with her pine-cone, completely oblivious to the danger she was now in. But Hutch noticed something.

"Hey, what's that?" he said, pointing to the wolves in the valley below, setting up their catapult.

"Isn't that those wolves from earlier?" Can-do said. "I knew they were up to something!"

"Come on, guys," Lilly said, "I'm sure it's not anything to worry about."

And then she turned to see that the wolves below were preparing a giant boulder. Her jaw dropped.

"They're building a catapult!" Hutch said.

"Wha-what's that?" Lilly asked, very much afraid.

"It's this thing which shoots boulders," Hutch answered "Kinda like that big one they got down there."

Lilly looked to see that the catapult and boulder was directly pointing at the cliff. "If that thing hits us, we'll be wolf-pancakes!" she cried.

"I knew they were going to do something," Can-do said. "But nobody wanted to listen to me. You guys thought the big bad war-wolves would just go away without any trouble at all. Nobody ever listens to Can-do."

"Not now, Can-do!" Hutch yelled.

Lilly watched as one of the wolves climbed on the other and began to jump. "They're about to fire that right at us! What do we do?"  
"Run?" Hutch said with a shrug. Can-do grunted his approval.

"But we can't. We have to stop it somehow!"

"Why, we can't get there in time," Hutch said, "but we could at least get out of the way."

"Maybe you guys could," Lilly answered, "but I don't think I could. I'm an Omega and I can't run as fast. Besides, even if we got away, that boulder would destroy mom and dad's den."

"So?" Hutch and Can-do said together.

"Well, if they do that, mom will be very angry. Remember what happened to the wolves in charge the last time someone messed up her den?"

Hutch and Can-do laughed nervously. "I still have nightmares about that," Can-do said.

"I think we should stop that boulder," Hutch added.

"But how do we do that?" Can-do responded. "We don't have anything to fire back at them."

Lilly picked up her pine-cone. She had an idea. "Can-do, do you think you could kick this cone over there?"

"Probably, but why would I want to? Only Omegas play with pinecones."

"We're not playing," Lilly said. "I have an idea."

Can-do shook his head. "It can't be that good. You're an Omega, after all. What do you know about war?"

Lilly was getting nervous. "Nothing… but I have an idea."

Can-do growled. "Just leave the fighting to us."

Lilly tilted her head. "Do you have an idea to get us out of this?"

Can-do shrugged. "No, but…"

"Then just do what I say. When I toss you this pine-cone, kick it over toward those wolves down there."

Can-do muttered, "Great, I'm taking orders from an Omega now."

Hutch elbowed him. "Just do it, Can-do."

Lilly set the pine-cone on her nose and then flicked it toward Can-do, who turned and kicked it with his back leg toward the catapult.

The pine-cone went soaring through the air. The wolves at the catapult had no idea it was coming. The top wolf jumped, ready to launch the boulder. But at that exact moment, the pine-cone came down, smacking him in the head and sending him flying into the boulder. This was enough to knock the boulder backward.

And so the boulder rolled straight for the pack of wolves behind it. Timur and Ivan were first in line.

"Retreat!" Timur yelled. He and Ivan jumped out of the way, but the wolves behind them were not so lucky. Wolf after wolf after wolf was flattened by the huge boulder.

Lilly, Hutch, and Can-do watched all this from the cliff.

"I can't believe that worked," Can-do said.

"See, if you would have just tried it in the first place," Lilly said, "we wouldn't have had to argue."

"She's right," Hutch said. "That actually turned out well. Good job, Lilly."

Lilly smiled bashfully. "Thanks, Hutch. That's the first time I've ever done something to defend the pack."

"But probably not the last," Hutch said.

Lilly was surprised. "Why do you say that?"

"Because, I'm sure that those wolves won't be content with one attack. I'm sure they'll have something else ready for us."

Lilly began to panic. "How do we know what it is? What do we do?"

"Just have to wait and see," Hutch answered. Can-do grumbled his agreement.

"Fine," Lilly said, "I guess… we'll just have to wait."

Meanwhile, the enemy wolves were trying to gather up all those who were wounded by the boulder.

"That's a full ten members of our pack too injured to fight!" Timur barked. "This is your fault, Ivan!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, sir," Ivan said, trying to calm Timur down. "I admit that the catapult had a few design flaws, but it wasn't my fault that they shot a pine-cone at us. I mean, who does that? What self-respecting wolf uses a pine-cone as a weapon?"

"The one who made me order a retreat for the first time in this pack's history!" Timur grumbled. "I don't expect that there will be a second time."

"There won't be!" Ivan said. "Because, while my catapult may have underperformed, I've got something else in the works which is sure to clean their clocks!"

"See that it does, or I'll clean yours," Timur said.

"Don't worry, sir," Ivan answered. "They won't even see it coming!"


	4. Hit and Run

**Happy belated Canada Day to those of you in Canada and happy early Independence Day for those readers in the United States of America. And if you're from a country that doesn't have a holiday around this time of the year... happy July 3rd, I guess. Let's celebrate with another round in the battle between Canada's most famous white Omega against the brutal and the cruel invaders trying to destroy her pack's home. Also, a big thank you goes to DLW for the great reviews of the past three chapters. Keep reading and reviewing, guys, and enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

Can-do returned from surveying the pack, making sure everybody was there and no one had been killed or injured by the enemy.

"Is everything alright?" Hutch asked.

"If you mean that we're all still alive, yeah," Can-do said, "but the whole pack is starving. If we don't get some food soon they're not going to be happy."

Lilly, who was anxiously peeking over the cliff ledge for any sign of the enemy, stood up and walked over. "Don't worry. I already took care of it."

"Took care of it?" Hutch and Can-do asked together in surprise.

Lilly nodded.

"How?" Hutch said.

"It's not like you can hunt caribou. None of us can with those troublemakers down there," Can-do added.

"No," Lilly said, "but I got the next best thing."

"We're back, Lilly, and we've got everything you need," said a muffled female voice. Hutch and Can-do looked behind them to see Reba and Janice walking toward them, with several branches of bitter blue berries hanging out of their mouths. Reba had spoken.

"We found as much of these as we could," Janice said, "and we've already passed them out to the other wolves. We thought we'd bring what's left for you."

"Thanks, guys," Lilly said.

"Bitter berries? Bitter berries?" Can-do barked. "You can't expect us to eat those!"

"I know they taste bad," Lilly answered, "but they're the only thing we've got right now. We either eat them or go hungry."

"She's right," Hutch said, reluctantly taking one of the branches Reba and Janice had put down.

Can-do grumbled. "No way I'm ever eating those. I'd rather be killed by those goons out there."

Meanwhile, those goons out there were not idle. Timur and Ivan were standing in front of the forest, watching the cliffs.

"So what's your next plan?" Timur asked.

Ivan whistled. "Bring her out here, boys!"

And then Timur saw a team of ten wolves march out of the forest. They were in two rows and between them was a very large and very long log. Vines had been used to tie a very sharp and jagged rock to the front end of the log.

"Now what's this supposed to do?" Timur asked.

"It's very simple," Ivan explained. "We're going to charge Lilly and her two lieutenants, with these wolves carrying this log in front. The force of our momentum and the jagged rock will make sure that whoever or whatever gets in our way gets pounded. Once we get to Lilly and the others, we can just charge them with the log and they'll all be crushed beneath us."

Timur nodded. "Oh, so it's a battering ram!"

"Basically," Ivan said proudly.

But Timur was concerned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but with a battering ram, don't you need stuff to batter? Like doors or gates or something?"

Ivan grinned. "A minor technicality. Just watch, sir, and you'll see how well it works."

"Okay. Then, if everything's ready, charge!"

The wolves ran toward the mountain, the battering ram out in front. Just as they reached it, Reba and Janice were coming down looking for more berries. They were the first victims. The log smacked into both of them, sending each flying.

Lilly, Hutch, and Can-do were at the cliff, each trying to force down their ration of bitter berries. "They're actually not that bad once you get used to them," Can-do remarked. Lilly and Hutch glared at him.

And then, they heard the mad howls of the invading pack as they charged up the mountain. Lilly and the Betas watched in horror as the long, evil-looking log appeared around the windy path, followed by a horde of screaming wolf warriors.

"That's not good," Hutch said.

"It sure isn't," Lilly said. Both could not help staring in shock.

"Hello, does anybody else notice that we're right in the path of that thing?" Can-do yelled.

Hutch and Lilly looked at each other. "What do we do?" Lilly cried.

"I don't know," Hutch said. "This situation doesn't usually come up in the standard Alpha School curriculum."

Lilly looked around in panic and suddenly she had an idea. "Hurry, throw those bitter berries in their path!"

She threw her branch of berries toward the attackers. Hutch and Can-do just watched.

"So, you want to give up our only remaining food source to the bad guys," Hutch said. "I don't mean to be critical, but your plan seems rather lacking."

"Trust me, guys!" Lilly said.

Hutch shrugged. "You're the boss." He never thought he'd be saying that to an Omega. But he was, so he was going to follow through with what she ordered him to do. He picked up his berries and threw them at the oncoming horde.

A few seconds later, Lilly and Hutch turned to see why Can-do hadn't thrown his berries. They found him trying to eat as many as possible as quickly as possible.

"Can-do, we need those berries," Lilly said politely.

"But they're mine!" Can-do said. "I haven't eaten anything all day!"

"Can-do, just toss them!" Hutch said.

Can-do grumbled but at last threw his berries in the path with the others.

The attackers did not even notice. They kept coming. Lilly, frozen in her tracks by fright, tried to hide her face as she braced for the impact. But then she heard the squashing sound. The attackers had made contact with the berries.

And, just like that, the wolves holding the log began slipping. The log swayed from side to side, getting dangerously close to the edge of the path, as the wolves tried and failed to keep their balance. And then they fell backward. And when they fell backward, the log fell backward. Now the pointy rock was pointing at the rest of the invaders. And the log landed in the bitter berry juice, making it uncomfortably slippery.

"Retreat!" Timur yelled. But it was too late. The log slid down the path, taking out wolves left and right. Some wolves even jumped off the path ledge just to get away. It seemed impossible to escape. Timur and Ivan only got away because they had pushed several other wolves between them and the log.

"We did it!" Lilly shouted. She turned and lifted up her paw to Hutch for a high-three. Hutch, full of excitement, gave her one. He then looked completely embarrassed after doing it.

Lilly turned to Can-do with her paw raised.

"Don't even think about it," Can-do said with a growl.

Lilly pulled her paw back, afraid that Can-do might attack it or something. "Okay, I was just trying to keep up team spirit!"

At the other end of the valley, injured wolves were limping back into the forest.

"I don't get it," Timur said. "Giant gang of marauding wolves on the warpath vs. sweet and innocent little wolf pup. Sweet and innocent little wolf pup wins. Twice."

"At least things weren't all bad," Ivan said.

"Not all bad? Not all bad? Where have you been? I just ordered a full scale retreat for the second time in a single day, two-thirds of our pack is no longer able to even fight a squirrel, and it's all because of you and your little experiments!"

Ivan smiled nervously as Timur showed him his nasty fangs. "May I point out," Ivan said, "that we did get two of theirs this time? So, we are improving!"  
Timur growled. "Any more improvements like this and we won't have a pack left!"  
Just then, another wolf brought Reba and Janice forward.

"Stop this madness!" Reba yelled. "Stop the killing!"

"Don't you know your barbaric scavenging practices are ruining not only the lives of our animal friends but the environment as well?" Janice added.

"Yeah I do," Timur said, "but it's just too much fun to give up."

"Permission to kill them in a brutal and needlessly violent manner, sir?" the subordinate said.

"Yeah, sure," Timur said. But then he realized something. He stopped his wolves from attacking. "Killing those two, it would probably be doing their own pack a favor! But if we kept them alive, we might be able to make use of them! I have a plan."

"Wait!" Ivan said. "Come on, sir, you've got to give me one more chance! My next design is absolutely full-proof! It's the best I've done yet! Just let me prove it to you and make up for the past… shall we say, malfunctions?"

Timur glared at him. "Okay, Ivan, you get one more chance. Go build another of your fancy machines. But if this one doesn't work, there'll be serious consequences. Deadly serious. And you can trust me on that."

Ivan saluted. "Oh yes, my chief, my beloved leader, I shall not fail you this time! Wait till you see my grandest experiment yet!"

"I shudder to think," Timur answered.


	5. Siege

Timur stood outside the forest, waiting for Ivan to get done with his work. Ivan's newest and grandest project had taken longer than the other two to put together. Timur looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was slowly making its way toward the mountains in the distance.

"Hurry up, Ivan, or we won't have any daylight left!" Timur barked.

Ivan ran out of the trees. "Don't worry, sir, it's almost done. I just had to make a few changes to increase our odds of victory. The enemy is fierce and crafty, so we have to be the same. Who knows what vicious stratagems they're working on over there?"  
Over there, on the cliff overlooking the valley, Hutch and Lilly were standing opposite of each other. Can-do was laying on a rock nearby, looking bored.

"I don't see why I have to do this," Lilly said. "It's been an hour or two since the last attack. Maybe they left by now!"  
"Not likely," Hutch said. "They've got something else in the works. And we may not be so lucky the next time. That's why you've got to learn how to defend yourself."

"But… but… I'm not really good at that," Lilly said, cringing.

"Hasn't Garth taught you anything at all?" Can-do barked.

"Yeah, but just about hunting. Not about fighting!"

"I told you this was a waste of time, Hutch," Can-do said.

Hutch seemed to be thinking that Can-do was right, but tried to hide it from Lilly. Lilly could tell anyway. She felt ashamed at being such a disappointment. "Okay, let's try it," she said meekly.

"Let's get started with the basics," Hutch said.

"Like basic fighting moves?" Lilly asked, nervous.

"No. The basic basics," Hutch continued. "How to act like you're someone the enemy does not want to confront."

"Huh? I don't get it," Lilly said.

"Then I'll let you in on a secret," Can-do said. "As long as you look tough, wolves don't mess with you. You don't need to be able to fight, you just need attitude!"

Hutch rolled his eyes. "What Can-do's saying in his, um, _unique_ way is that if you're going to be the pack leader you have to act like you can lead the pack into battle. So, are you ready?"

"Um, I guess?" Lilly answered.

Hutch nodded. "Good. Now, when you confront a hostile wolf, the first thing you want to do is give them a good look at your teeth so that they know you mean business. Snarl in the most threatening manner possible, so that we can see all of your teeth."

Lilly tried to look threatening, tried to snarl, but when she did it, it just ended up as a large, friendly smile.

"How's this?" she said as Hutch and Can-do exchanged worried looks.

"That depends," Can-do said. "Are you trying to frighten the enemy or sell them girl-scout cookies?"

Lilly's smile faded. "Sorry…"

"Um, let's try something else," Hutch said, hoping to get Lilly's mind off of her failure. "The other thing that you want to do when confronting a hostile wolf is growl. It will let the wolf know that you're willing to attack if they don't back down. Why don't you try?"

Lilly looked away. "I don't know if I can."

"You don't know?" Can-do asked. "How can you not know?"

"I never needed to."

"It's okay," Hutch said. "Just think to a time when you were really angry at someone. Like when you were a pup. What would you do if one of the other wolves picked on you?"

"I'd get Kate to beat them up." Lilly obviously wasn't getting the idea.

"I don't believe this!" Can-do grumbled.

"Not now, Can-do," Hutch whispered. He then turned back to Lilly. "Okay, just try to growl."

Lilly stood still for a while, trying to work herself up into enough imaginary anger to growl. Finally, she started whimpering.

"Why are you crying?" Hutch said.

Lilly seemed surprised. "I wasn't crying. I was trying to growl."

"We'll be at this all night!" Can-do grumbled.

But across the valley, Timur was keeping his lookout. Suddenly, he heard Ivan walk up behind him. "Is it ready?" he said.

"Oh yeah, it's ready," Ivan responded proudly.

Timur turned around to see a giant structure being pushed out of the woods. It looked a lot like a tree, since it was as tall as a tree, but it was much wider than any tree in the forest. Timur saw that it was actually made of several logs and vines tied together. Underneath it, two logs were being used as makeshift wheels.

"What's this, now?" he said, amazed by the size of the thing.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Ivan said.

"It's like a tower of some sort."

Ivan nodded. "That's right. A siege tower. You see, we just have to put our warriors inside of it and then we roll it up to the cliff. Then a little ramp comes down from the top and we climb out onto the cliff. That way they'll have no way to stop us getting there!"

Timur grinned. "I like it. You know, this one may actually work. Okay, wolves, you heard him. Get in the tower!"

Nobody got in the tower. Timur looked around. He saw the wolves of his pack, the ones still able to fight, standing back and shaking. One of them stepped forward. "Sir, maybe this time we could… not attack the white wolf?"

"Not attack… _the white wolf_?" Timur yelled. "Are you telling me that my warriors, who have exterminated countless wolf-packs, slaughtering the greatest champions in all Canada, and who have never been defeated, are afraid of a single, little, white she-wolf?"

"Yeah," the subordinate said. All the wolves behind him nodded. "See, we're perfectly willing to fight those other wolves, but… not that one. She's not like the others. She beat us twice without having to lift a paw! Our fighters are saying that she must be a sorceress with great powers!"

"I'll make this simple," Timur said. "Get in the tower or I'll kill all of you."

"What kind of a choice is that?" the subordinate said. "If we don't go, you'll kill us but if we do go, she'll kill us. Either way, we end up dead."

"Don't worry," Ivan said, jumping in front of Timur before he had a chance to kill the subordinate. "I've designed this thing so that nothing like those last two occasions can happen. I can guarantee that this tower is two-hundred fifty percent safe!"

The subordinate considered. "Okay, if it's two-hundred fifty percent safe, that's good right?"

Ivan nodded. Feeling better, the wolves filed into the tower, with Ivan going in last. As Ivan was about to shut the door, he turned toward Timur. "Aren't you coming, sir?"

"Somebody's got to lead the wolves down here who have to push this thing," Timur said. "And I don't want to be up there in case we have a repeat of the last two performances."

He then slammed the door in Ivan's face.

On the cliff, Lilly was still working at growling.

"Maybe if you tried to raise your voice a little," Hutch suggested.

Lilly did; it came out as a whistle.

Can-do rolled his eyes. Then, out of boredom, he looked across the valley to see the giant tower coming toward them. "What's that?" he yelled.

Hutch and Lilly ran to the edge of the cliff. "I knew they'd be back!" Hutch said.

"What do we do?" Lilly said.

"I don't think there's anything we can do," Can-do said, coming up next to them. "That thing's too big and it's got too much armor for us to stop it."

"Then, we just have to… wait?" Lilly asked anxiously.

Hutch and Can-do nodded.

"Oh," Lilly said quietly. "In that case, we're dead."


	6. Assault

**I know that this is an extra long chapter but I couldn't find a good place to break it into two. Besides, I think it all fits together rather nicely. Anyway, thanks again to DLW for the continued interest and reviews and a big welcome to Lunar Wolf, my newest reviewer. And, as always, thank you to all my readers and enjoy!**

* * *

Lilly, Hutch, and Can-do watched the siege tower move slowly toward them. Very slowly.

"You'd think that if they wanted to kill us so badly, they could at least be quicker about it," Can-do remarked.

"It would be polite," Lilly said.

But the tower was getting closer. All three wolves backed up as it came to the cliff. Lilly stood behind Hutch and Can-do, who were preparing to pounce on anything that came out.

Finally, the ramp came down, connecting the cliff to the tower. And out of the tower stepped Ivan, surrounded by warrior wolves. He smiled evilly.

"Well, it looks like this round goes to us," he said. "I always knew this plan would work."

Lilly cringed as she saw the menacing red skull and bones all over Ivan's black fur.

"Um, excuse me," she said.

"What?" Ivan said. "Going to plead for your lives like the rodents you are?"

Lilly shook her head. "No, um, I was just going to ask, before you brutally kill us, are those bones painted on?"

Ivan snarled. "Yeah, _painted in blood!_"

Lilly was unconvinced, despite her fear. "In blood? Really?"

Ivan shrugged. "Okay, it's red berry juice. But do you know how hard it is to actually have the colors come out right when you use blood? It just isn't practical!"

"You don't have to justify it to me since I'm just an Omega," Lilly said. "I just thought that your pack wouldn't think you were tough if you didn't use real blood."

The wolves behind Ivan started grumbling. "She does have a point," one of them said.

Ivan tried to hide his embarrassment. "Well, yeah, but… Oh, just kill them all already! Take no prisoners!"

Hutch and Can-do started to growl. Lilly stood frozen, not sure of what to do. "Lilly, get out of here!" Hutch yelled. "We'll hold them off as long as we can!"

And then the wolves attacked. The Betas were, despite being outnumbered, able to keep the enemy from reaching Lilly. But Lilly just stood there, still frozen, still unsure of what to do. She looked from the enemy wolves to their giant tower. Out of the tower, more wolves were trying to come out. But Lilly noticed something.

"Hm, doesn't look very sturdy," she said to herself.

But then she noticed that Hutch and Can-do were finally being overwhelmed by the attackers. She saw Ivan standing over them, laughing. He was about to deliver the final, killing blow.

"I have to do something," Lilly said. "I can't just leave them there!"

So, she recalled all of the training Hutch had given her. She tightened her muscles, trying to work up a growl and preparing to pounce with all her might. Finally, she was ready. She launched herself toward Ivan.

"Graaaaaaaaa!" she screamed as she flew toward him. Before Ivan even had time to react, Lilly crashed into him.

And Lilly was sent flying backward. Ivan was completely unhurt. Instead of toppling him, Lilly had bounced off him!

"Did anybody else feel something," Ivan said, still oblivious. "Like, a breeze or something?"

Then he noticed Lilly, lying on the ground. He started to walk toward her. "Oh-ho-ho, it looks like our little magician isn't so invulnerable after all! I'm going to enjoy killing you."

Lilly jumped to her feet and began to back away slowly. Ivan grinned as he got closer and closer to her. Lilly could not help becoming more and more terrified with each step he took. But he never reached her. Hutch had managed to get up and pounce on him, knocking him down.

"Lilly, I said run!" Hutch said, barely conscious.

And Lilly did run, going down along the mountain-path. All the enemy wolves were just watching. Each of them was too afraid to pursue her.

"Get him off of me!" Ivan ordered from under Hutch. His subordinates came to the rescue, pulling Hutch off of him and resuming their attack on the two Betas. Can-do had gotten to his feet but Hutch was out cold. And Can-do could not hold them off by himself.

Lilly ran down the path, frantically looking around here. "What do I do? What do I do? I need to get more momentum!"

Then she noticed another path, one leading higher up the mountain. She looked behind her and saw that it led to a ledge above her parents' den.

"That'll do, I guess," Lilly said. She started to run up that path.

Ivan watched as both Hutch and Can-do were being pinned to the ground. Can-do was still trying to fight but to no use. Hutch was still unconscious.

"Wake him up," Ivan said. "I want him to be awake when we kill him!"

The wolves violently shook Hutch until he regained consciousness. Then Ivan walked over to kill him.

"You lose, buddy," he said. "You two can't defend your whole pack by yourselves and now that your little white girl ran away–"

Then they all heard a howl. A clear, feminine howl coming from above. All the wolves looked up to see Lilly standing on the ledge over the cave.

"I didn't run away," Lilly said.

"How'd she get up there?" Ivan said. "How?"

One of his wolves answered, "I don't know… She must have teleported!"

Ivan turned to him. "Teleported? Really? Because that's the logical solution, isn't it? Instead of finding a passage up there or something, she just teleported! Please."

"Um, excuse me," Lilly said. "I'm still up here."

Ivan and the wolves turned their heads back toward her.

"Okay, now that I have everybody's attention," Lilly said. "I'd just like to say that you should all get back in your tower and go away. Just leave us alone! I don't think you should bother us any more... or else!"

"Or else?" Ivan said with a laugh. "What are you going to do? Blind us with your winning smile?"

But none of his warriors were laughing.

Lilly looked around her nervously. She knew what she had to do. She did not want to do it, but it was the only way. "Okay, then…" she said hesitantly. "Then… this was your choice."

And, closing her eyes, she leapt from the cliff. The great height gave her increased momentum and she came down with great force. But she did not land on the wolves. Instead, she went through the roof of the siege tower.

Ivan and his wolves began to laugh. Hutch and Can-do just stared at the tower in disbelief.

"That's it?" Ivan said. "Oh yeah, I'm really scared now! Ha ha. Go kill her, boys."

"Right," said the wolves, now all thinking that maybe Lilly wasn't as invincible as they believed. They all stepped on the ramp with Ivan following, completely forgetting about Hutch and Can-do on the cliff.

Lilly had created a hole in the roof. The front half of her body was hanging down into the siege tower while her back half remained stuck outside. Lilly looked around at her strange surroundings and began to wiggle, trying to break free. Then she heard the wood around her beginning to snap.

She cringed. "I hope I don't regret this later…"

Just as the wolves were about to step off the ramp and into the tower, they heard a noise. A feminine voice saying, "Owe, owe, owe," as a number of large bumps and bangs came from various parts of the tower.

And then the whole tower began to shake as pieces of wood everywhere began to fall off.

"It's gonna collapse!" one of the wolves said. And they all ran into the tower, looking for safety.

"Get out of my way," Ivan ordered as he tried to reach ground level before the whole thing fell apart.

"Um, sir," one of his wolves said, "if we're trying to escape the collapse, why did we all run into the tower instead of onto the cliff?"

"Look, the answer's very simple," Ivan began. But then he realized the mistake they had made. The tower came crashing down right on top of him and all the other wolves inside of it.

Hutch and Can-do forced themselves to their feet. They walked up to the edge of the cliff and watched the tower fall. They then looked down as it became a crumbled heap lying on the ground.

"Wait, did Lilly just defeat a whole army?" Hutch asked.

"Looks that way," Can-do said in disbelief.

Can-do watched for a few more seconds and said, "but does that mean she's…"

"It has to," Hutch answered. "There's no way an Omega could survive a collapse like that."

Hutch and Can-do stood in silence for a moment or two in remembrance of the little Omega.

"Of course you know," Hutch said at last, "that Eve's going to kill us, right?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering how far we'd have to go so that she couldn't find us," Can-do answered.

"I hear Mongolia is lovely this time of year," Hutch said.

"What's there for a wolf to hunt in Mongolia?" Can-do asked.

"Goats, I think," was Hutch's reply.

Can-do pondered this. "It could work."

And then they heard a feminine voice, Lilly's voice. "Um, if you don't mind, could someone help me up?"

They both looked over the cliff to see Lilly just barely managing to hold onto the rocks.

"Lilly, you're alive!" Can-do shouted in joy. "Eve won't kill us!"

"How did you get there?" Hutch asked.

"Well, when the tower was falling, I was still rolling and bumping around," Lilly said. "So I aimed myself toward the nearest wall and just hoped that I wouldn't end up in the middle of the sky. When I came out, I flew into the cliff and grabbed on. But can you get me up now? I'm about to lose my grip."

Hutch and Can-do grabbed onto her front legs and began to pull her up.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Timur and his wolves were busy trying to sift through the wreckage for any survivors. Finally, they found Ivan underneath another wolf underneath several layers of wood.

Ivan staggered out. "Don't worry. I'm alright. He took most of the impact!"  
Timur growled. "I thought you said this one was full-proof."

"Hey, you can't blame this on me, sir," Ivan said sheepishly. "It was… it was Lilly! I mean, everything was going fine, we were putting the hurting on those two buddies of hers, when suddenly she just disappears. And then she's all of a sudden on top of this ledge, like out of nowhere! And then she jumps off the ledge and she actually flies onto the roof of our tower. And then the tower just completely collapses for no reason!"

Timur glared at him. "You really expect me to believe that that single white pup has defeated my whole pack _three times?_"

Ivan was shaking in fear. But he kept talking. "I tell you, sir, that that's no mortal wolf! She's a spirit or a demon or something! No way that a normal wolf could destroy all of our weapons like this or defeat our warriors!"

"You expect me to believe that? Ha!" Timur said. "That little pup is as flesh and blood as you or me. She's capable of being killed just the same as any of us! And I'll show it to you! Wolves, get up there and attack!"

The wolves under Timur's command, those who had been looking for survivors in the wreckage, formed up beside him.

"Okay, now we're going to take care of this once and for all!" Timur said, preparing to lead them into battle.

Directly above them, Hutch and Can-do were pulling Lilly up to the cliff. As they did so, her back paws kicked around, trying to find a place to climb. This kicking knocked several rocks loose. These rocks fell and, in turn, knocked several bigger rocks loose.

The wolves below barely had time to look up before the avalanche of rocks landed on top of them, burying them all. The avalanche had just barely missed Timur himself. He now stood there looking at the large pile of rocks where his warriors had once been.

Lilly finally got onto the cliff. She turned and looked down, wondering what had happened. "Did I do all that?"

"Yep," Hutch and Can-do said together, neither still able to believe it.

Below, Timur looked up and saw Lilly looking back at him from the cliff.

"You know," he said to Ivan, "you might have something with this 'no mortal wolf' thing. Retreat!"

After much terrified running, Timur and Ivan reached the edge of the forest, with several badly injured wolves limping along behind them.

"Don't worry, sir," Ivan said. "I already have a plan for our next assault. You see, I'm thinking that we should build a large caribou and then pretend to leave the valley. But we'll really all be hiding in the caribou until–"

Timur grabbed his neck. "This caribou wouldn't happen to be made of logs, would it? Because if I hear about one more design built from logs, I'm going to tear your throat out! If I even ever hear the word 'log' again, I'm going to tear your throat out! Now, what were you saying?"

"I got nothing," Ivan barely managed to choke out.

But Timur wasn't finished. "In fact, give me one good reason, just one, why I should let you live after failing me so many times?"

Ivan smiled as best he could considering his lack of oxygen. "Because, you and me are the only two pack members left who can still fight?"

Timur dropped him. "Unfortunately, you're right. So I won't kill you right now. I'm going to need you for our next attack."

"But what are you going to do, since we have no other fighters left?" Ivan said as he got up, trying to regain his breath.

Timur grinned deviously. "Tell me, do we still have those two vegetarians?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ivan said. "Nobody killed them, last time I checked."

"Good," Timur said, "because I've had enough of your schemes and your bizarre contraptions. From now on, we do things my way!"


	7. Ambush

Timur and Ivan marched single-file through the valley, with the vegetarians Reba and Janice between them.

"Stop the madness! Stop the killing!" Reba and Janice were chanting together. "Stop eating other animals! Go organic!"

Timur turned on them, growling. "Don't you two ever shut up?"

"Stop the madness! Stop the killing!" they continued to chant.

"Don't you realize I could kill both of you with a single swipe of my paws?" Timur said.

The two wolves stopped chanting long enough to look skeptical. "It's not like you're actually going to do it," Reba said.

"Yeah," Janice agreed. "You need us alive for something, or else you would have killed us already."

"I think they've got you there, sir," Ivan said.

Reba and Janice began to chant again. "Stop eating other animals! Go organic!"

Timur growled and started walking again. "I can't wait to tear you two apart… after I get done with Lilly!"

* * *

Lilly was on top of the cliff, lying on her side. Hutch and Can-do were getting ready to leave.

"Sure you don't want me to come with you?" Lilly said.

"No, patrolling the valley is more of our thing," Hutch said. "Besides, you need some rest after taking so many bumps and bruises."

Lilly smiled. "Yeah, I guess that was a really silly thing to do."

"Silly is one word for it," Can-do muttered.

"But it saved the pack," Hutch said, trying to cut Can-do off from saying any more. "In my book, that was pretty brave."

"And I think it scared those scavengers out of their wits," Can-do said. "They haven't attacked us in a while. I bet they ran away with their tails between their legs!"

Hutch nodded. "It looks that way. But we won't know until we actually patrol the valley."

Hutch and Can-do began to walk down the path.

"Be careful, guys!" Lilly called after them.

"We will," Hutch called back. "But I guess we don't need to say the same thing to you!"

* * *

"Okay, there's leaving," Ivan said, running back to Timur and the vegetarians. "Lilly's all by herself."

"Good," Timur said, "but how did you see that clearly?"

Ivan revealed a long cylinder made from wood. "With this telescope I made out of a few logs and some pieces of glass."

Timur wacked it away. It flew into a nearby tree and broke apart. "I said no more logs! I'm going to have nightmares about logs for the rest of my life! I never want to see another log as long as I live!"

"But… that one actually worked…" Ivan said sadly.

"I don't care!" Timur bellowed. "Read my lips… or whatever we wolves have… no more logs!"

"That's not a very environmentally-friendly policy," Reba remarked to Janice.

Timur turned to them. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Me and Ivan here, we're going to get Lilly all by herself and then we're going to ambush her. And you two are going to help."

"That's, like, betraying our pack!" Janice said.

"Yeah, we'll never help you!" Reba added.

Timur chuckled. "I thought you might say that, which is why I took the trouble of bringing along a few of your little friends."  
He lifted up his paw to reveal that he was clutching the tails of two of the squirrels which were so friendly with the two vegetarians.

"And if you don't help me out," he said, "I'm going to stuff one of them down each of your throats! How's that for going organic?"

Reba and Janice both started to back away in terror.

"You… you wouldn't," Janice said.

"That's… that's barbaric," Reba added. "Even you wouldn't go that far!"

Timur laughed. "Because I may have killed eight-hundred seventy-two wolves–"

"And a half!" Ivan added helpfully.

"Eight-hundred seventy-two and a half wolves, but forcing vegetarians to eat meat is beyond even my capacity for cruelty and violence? Yeah, right."

Reba and Janice started to shiver.

"If that's… if that's the case… I guess we have no choice," Reba said.

* * *

Lilly was still lying down and had nearly fallen asleep when she heard someone running up the path toward her. She looked up to see Reba, panting after apparently having come a long way.

"Reba, what is it?" Lilly asked. She could tell that something was wrong.

"Lilly, they've got Janice," Reba said. "Those big bag wolves have Janice. You have to help me save her!"

"Um, well, I think we should wait for Hutch and Can-do to get back," Lilly said. "They'll know what to do."

"There's no time," Reba said. "If we don't get Janice back, they're going to kill her!"

Lilly thought about this. She did not like going into the valley or going up against the enemy without Hutch and Can-do's support but it did not look like she had much choice. She did not want Janice to die, after all. She considered Reba and Janice to be friends – or as close to friends as she had. They were outcasts like her and she did not want to let them down.

"Um, okay, I guess if we have to go…" Lilly said. She then started to walk down the path with Reba beside her.

"How much farther are they?" Lilly asked when she and Reba had reached the tall grass. Reba did not answer. Lilly looked over her shoulder to see Reba and Janice both just sitting in the grass and watching her. Janice had appeared from nowhere, as far as Lilly knew, but Reba did not seem surprised.

"Lilly, we're so sorry!" Reba said. "But we had to do it!"

"Yeah, they were going to make us eat our squirrel friends if we didn't!" Janice said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Lilly said. "What did they make you do?"

"Haven't you figured it out, little girl?" Lilly looked in front of her to see Timur coming her way.

"Looks like we got her good this time!" Ivan said, pushing the vegetarians out of the way and closing in on Lilly from the other side. "There's no way for her to escape."

Lilly looked from one to the other. She was so frightened she could not run, could not even speak. Instead, she just fell on her stomach and put her paws over her eyes. "I wish Hutch and Can-do were here!" she whispered.

Though she couldn't see the two wolves coming toward her, she could hear them. And now she knew there was no escape. Lilly began to cry as she waited for the inevitable to come. There was no way out now. Lilly knew this had to be the end.

* * *

**The end for Lilly? Now wouldn't that be a real downer if I just ended the story like that? But, luckily, I'm not going to do that. So be sure to come back for the conclusion to Lilly's epic battle against these cruel invaders. And, as always, review and enjoy!**


	8. Triumph

**Okay, here's the thing, I've got the final chapter all written. But it ended up being so long I decided to break it into two. So there's technically a final two chapters. But I should get the next chapter posted right after this one, so you won't have to wait for the conclusion. **

**Anyway, from the reviews I got for the last chapter, you all are anxious to see whether Lilly will survive Timur's trap. Luckily for you, that part is in this chapter. So read on and enjoy.**

* * *

For a while, nothing seemed to happen. Lilly began to wonder if, for some reason, Timur and Ivan had went away. So, she carefully opened one eye, then the other, and then she stood up. Unfortunately, Timur and Ivan were still there. They were just taking their time in stalking their prey, wanting to make the anticipation as painful as the kill. And now, Timur was in front of her and Ivan behind her and they were closing in fast.

And then Lilly noticed something. The two evil wolves were in front and behind her, but nobody was on either side of her. Lilly smiled slightly at the realization and dashed off to her left. Timur and Ivan were surprised and confused.

"Why didn't somebody cut her off?" Timur yelled.

"Because… um, there are only two of us left, sir?" Ivan said nervously.

"Just go get her!" Timur ordered. He and Ivan then ran after Lilly.

* * *

Reba and Janice watched everything from their spot in the grass.

"We should help Lilly!" Reba said.

"Yeah, it would make up for you betraying her," Janice answered.

Reba was angry. "Me betraying her? You betrayed her too!"

Janice rolled her eyes. "But I wasn't the one who actually lured her into the ambush, was I?"

"Don't act so high and mighty!" Reba said. "Don't think I don't know that you've been sneaking scraps of caribou meat when you think nobody's looking!"

Janice's jaw dropped. "That's a lie! I'd never eat meat! But you're looking rather well-fed…"

"Can we just stop this and help Lilly?" Reba yelled.

"Fine," Janice said, "but what are we going to do? We can't stop those brutes any more than she can!"

"I know!" Reba said. "We'll get Hutch and Can-do! They were supposed to be patrolling the valley! We go find them and bring them back!"

Reba ran off. Janice began to follow her. "I just hope we get to them in time," she said.

* * *

Lilly ran through the tall grass. Luckily for her, she was so small that Timur and Ivan couldn't see her as she was running. They were just running in her general direction and, being larger and faster than the little Omega, they soon passed her up completely.

Seeing this, Lilly stopped. She knew that she could not run forever. She had to figure out something better. Then she saw the top half of a log laying nearby. Lilly suddenly remembered when she had fallen in love with Garth. She remembered how Garth had tried to teach her to hunt but she instead flew into a tree and ended up with a piece of bark on her back. She smiled as she thought about how Garth had pushed it off of her and then pushed her fur back to reveal both her eyes.

And then she had another idea. If she could hide completely under that piece of bark, maybe she could also hide under this log. "Time to make like a turtle, I guess," she said.

She crawled in through the opening at one end and did not stop until her snout was barely poking out the other end. It was a very long log and she hoped that they wouldn't think to look for her there.

"Where did she go now?" Lilly heard Timur yell.

"She just disappeared!" Ivan called back, his voice full of fear. "I told you, sir, there are dark forces at work here!"

"Just pick up her scent!" Timur ordered.

And then Lilly heard them coming back toward her. Soon they were walking all around her, having tracked her scent and now knowing she was in the general area.

Lilly's heart was pounding. She covered her eyes again. "Please don't find me, please don't find me," she whispered over and over.

Finally, Ivan walked up to the log. He looked at it and did not think anything of it, until he noticed a little black nose and a white snout barely sticking out of one end.

"Sir, I've found her!"

"Yeah?" Timur said from somewhere in the tall grass. He began to walk over.

* * *

Hutch and Can-do were in the forest, looking for any signs of their enemies. They had found nothing and it seemed like the invaders were really gone after all.

"Well, I don't think we're going to find anything," Hutch said.

"Yeah… I don't… either," Can-do said. It sounded as though his mouth was full.

Hutch turned around to see Can-do eating another cluster of bitter berries. "Don't tell me you're still eating those things!"

"Hey, I can't help it," Can-do said between bites. "They're so good!"

Hutch cringed. "Addiction… it's an ugly thing."

And then, both wolves heard that something was running toward them. They jumped around to see who it was. Their bodies became tense as they prepared to attack whoever was coming.

"If it's one of that other pack," Hutch said, "we pounce first and ask questions later."

"Gotcha," Can-do said.

And then the vegetarians came into view, running straight toward Hutch and Can-do.

"Can we still pounce?" Can-do asked.

Hutch regretfully shook his head. The vegetarians stopped right in front of them.

"Lilly's in danger!" Janice yelled.

"Yeah, she's been cornered by those barbarians!" Reba added. "She's in the tall grass and they're chasing her!"

"In danger?" Hutch said in alarm. "I thought I told her to stay put! How did she get down there?"

Reba and Janice laughed nervously. Neither of them wanted to explain that they were to blame.

"No time to wonder about that now!" Hutch continued. "We've got to save her! Can-do, come on."

He and Can-do ran toward the tall grass, with the vegetarians following.

"Oh, Eve is really going to kill us if we don't get there in time!" Can-do said.

"Try not to think about that," Hutch responded.

"But, if Lilly is… you know… Let's blame everything on the vegetarians!"

Hutch nodded quickly. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

"She's right here!" Ivan called out, knocking on the log with his paw.

Lilly was beginning to panic. She knew they had found her. Without any idea of what to do next, she decided to just make another run for it. So she jumped up. But the log was now stuck to her back.

"She's under this–" Ivan was never able to finish the sentence, as the log hit him squarely in the chin. He fell to the ground as Lilly stood up.

Lilly turned to see where he had gone. Just as she did so, Timur stuck his face out of the tall grass opposite Ivan.

"Well, where is she?" he said. He soon had his answer, as the back of the log whacked him in the face.

Lilly realized that she had hit something else. She turned toward Timur's direction. As she did so, Ivan got up. He was promptly whacked in the face by the back of the log. He fell back on the ground.

"Oh, I'm going to get her!" Timur growled as he recovered from the thump. He lunged for Lilly, not certain of how she had hit him but knowing that she had. Lilly saw him coming and fell back to the ground. Inside her log she curled up and put her paws over her head as though they would protect her. With eyes shut, she waited for the crash.

It never came. Timur had launched himself toward Lilly and the log when she was standing up. Now that she was on the ground, Timur went flying over her. Ivan was just getting back up, but soon fell to the ground a third time as Timur landed on top of him instead.

Timur got up and realized what he had done. "Ivan, what are you doing down there?"

"Is it too late to surrender," Ivan said, dazed.

Lilly opened one eye as she realized nothing had happened. She got up and, seeing nobody in front of her, turned around.

Timur was still standing over Ivan. "Wait, if you're there," he said, "where's Lilly?"

He got his answer as the end of the log collided with the back of his head, knocking back down onto Ivan.

"Where is everybody?" Lilly said, still not seeing anyone.

Hutch and Can-do stopped at a hill overlooking the tall grass. Below them, they saw Timur and Ivan sprawled out on the ground. Beside the two of them, still looking around, was Lilly, a long log stuck to her back.

"Okay," Can-do said. "Big nasty enemy wolves defeated. Lilly – not dead. Am I the only one who feels like we've landed in some alternate universe?"  
Timur crawled off of Ivan. "Are you okay?" he said.

"Don't worry, sir," Ivan said, "I didn't really need my ribcage anyway."

They slowly sat up and turned around – to see Lilly starring back at them, completely confused about what she had done.

"Um, hi," Lilly said, not knowing what else to say.

Timur and Ivan both screamed. They scurried back in terror.


	9. Endgame

**Here we go, final chapter! Once again, a big thank you to everybody who has been following this story from the beginning and especially those of you who have been reviewing along the way. I really appreciate all the support and feedback. **

**And I hope to have another Lilly story out soon, so stay tuned! **

**Thanks again and enjoy the conclusion to "Lilly Saves the Day."**

* * *

"It's… it's her!" Ivan said.

"And she's got a log!" Timur screamed.

"Oh, this old thing?" Lilly said. "It's nothing."

"Just put down the log," Timur said, "and we can all go home... Nobody has to die today…"

Lilly shrugged. She then lowered herself to the ground and squirmed out of the log.

"An ingenious design!" Ivan said. "What do you call it?"

Lilly was surprised by this question. "Um, a turtle shell?"

Ivan noticed Timur glaring at him. He smiled sheepishly and said, "Not that we'd ever have anything to do with contraptions made out of logs, which are evil."

Ivan sighed in relief as Timur seemed satisfied with this comment.

"But how come they never work for us but it works for her?" Timur complained.

"I told you, sir," Ivan said. "She's not of this world!"

"Um, yeah, whatever…" Lilly said. She began to rock the log with her paw, wondering if she should go back to hiding under it.

But Timur and Ivan saw this and interpreted it as a threat. Fearing that she would use the log on them again, they started to grovel.

"Oh, mighty and powerful one, we throw ourselves at your feet!" Timur said. "Please don't kill us in a horrifically violent manner!"

Lilly was shocked and surprised by this. It was a few seconds before she spoke. "Um, sure, I guess?"

"So, you'll spare us?" Ivan said.

Lilly thought for a moment. "Um, yeah, on one condition." Her voice became stronger and more confident as she continued to speak. "As long as you take whatever's left of your pack and leave our valley forever. Go back home and never make war on anybody ever again."

"Actually… that's three conditions," Ivan said.

Timur elbowed him. "Don't argue with the lady! Do you want your head to be ripped from your body in a single second?"

Ivan fell silent.

But now Timur had an issue. "Um, your highness, if we go back home, we'll have nothing to eat. We already killed all the caribou there."

Lilly smiled. "Then you'll just have to eat… um… um…" She looked around for something they could eat.

On the hill, Can-do was eating his berries as the vegetarians looked on approvingly. Hutch elbowed him.

"They're my berries!" Can-do said.

"Not now, Can-do!" Hutch yelled. Can-do, surprised by the anger in Hutch's voice, quickly gave him the berries.

Hutch tossed them to Lilly. She saw them flying through the air and caught them. She held them before Timur and Ivan. "Bitter berries!" she said triumphantly.

Timur and Ivan fearfully reached out and each took and ate a berry. They did not enjoy them.

"This is disgusting!" Timur yelled.

Lilly realized she was losing control of the ruffians. So, she thought back to what Hutch had tried to teach her. With all her might, she tried to come up with a frightening sound.

"Grrrr." She gave a quiet little growl. But it was enough to scare Timur and Ivan, who both jumped back.

"I'm sure it's an acquired taste," Timur said nervously.

"Just do that and I won't destroy you," Lilly said with a smile.

Timur and Ivan bowed and kissed her paws. "You are most merciful and wise," Timur said. "We'll never do anything bad again!"

"See that you don't or… or – what would mom say?" Lilly tried to think of how her mother would respond in a situation like this. "Oh! Or I'll tear your paws off and use them to claw out your eyes!" Her voice sounded so sweet and happy and her smile was so kind that it was hard to believe she had actually uttered a threat. But Timur and Ivan needed no convincing.

On the hill, the jaws of both the Betas and the vegetarians dropped at what they had just heard.

"What type of a wolf are you?" Timur said in fear.

Lilly's smile grew larger. "I'm an Omega!"

This was enough for the invaders. "Retreat!" Timur yelled. He and Ivan ran off. Soon, they and their pack, defeated, humiliated, and ruined, had left Jasper with their tails literally between their legs.

Lilly walked with the Betas and the vegetarians back toward her parents' den. Hutch, Can-do, Reba, and Janice all were in awe. They did not know what to say to the wolf who had single-pawedly saved their home.

* * *

Finally, when they reached the foot of the mountain, Reba said, "Um, Lilly, you're not going to tell your mother that we betrayed you, are you?"

"You betrayed her?" Hutch said.

"Why?" Can-do said. "Did they torture you, threaten to kill you?"

"Worse," Janice said. "They were going to make us eat meat!"

Hutch and Can-do were ready to punish the vegetarians right there, but Lilly said, "I won't tell mom as long as you two don't say anything, okay?"

"Oh, we won't!" Reba said.

"So, you're just going to let us go?" Janice asked.

Lilly looked over her shoulder as she began to walk up the path. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

"We won't!" Reba and Janice said together.

"Oh, and one more thing," Lilly said. "Mom and dad are looking for two wolves to serve as ambassadors to the central Saskatchewan wolf-pack. If you really want to make it up to me, you guys should sign up."

"But… isn't that the pack that runs the annual all-you-can-eat caribou buffet?" Reba asked.

"That's the one!" Lilly answered.

Reba and Janice laughed nervously. "Sounds… great…" Janice said.

Hutch and Can-do followed Lilly up the path to her parents' den.

"Um, Lilly," Hutch said. "That was pretty impressive today. I, for one, think we all have been underestimating you."

"Yeah," Can-do agreed. "And, maybe later, could you teach me some of those turtle impressions of yours? If they can defeat a whole invading pack, then I want to learn them!"

Lilly smiled bashfully. "Thanks, guys, for everything," she said. "And I can teach you some basic impressions later, but right now I need to get some rest. I'm tired."

The sun was setting behind the mountains and it was now twilight in Jasper. Lilly walked inside her parents' den, hoping to get some sleep. Hutch and Can-do watched her go. Suddenly, they heard a noise on the path.

Turning around, they saw the pack leaders Winston, Eve, and Tony coming up toward them.

"You're back!" Hutch said. "We didn't expect you back until later!"

The pack leaders pushed past them without saying a word.

"Do you think everything will be alright?" Eve said to Winston.

"I don't know, dear," Winston answered.

"Um, what's wrong, sir?" Hutch said.

Winston turned toward him. "We were called to a meeting of the regional pack leaders to deal with this scavenger wolf-pack that was invading territories around here. But the assembled pack leaders weren't able to figure out where they were or who they were going to strike next. So we left to come back and defend our pack."

And then, three more wolves came up the path. The first two were Kate and Humphrey.

"We searched all the mountain paths we could find," Kate said, "but we couldn't find any trace of those invaders you told us to look for, dad."

Garth was behind them. "And they didn't come near Alpha School like you thought they might. I was standing guard the whole day and there was no sign of trouble."

"So…" Hutch said. "You knew there was a nomadic pack coming through here with the intent to kill anybody they found and you didn't bother to tell us before leaving?"

"No, why would we?" Eve said.

"Nobody ever tells us anything," Can-do remarked.

"Not now Can-… Actually, you're right about that," Hutch said.

Eve meanwhile was looking around. "Where's my baby?"

Lilly walked out of the den, laughing innocently as she did so. But she felt a little weak and was limping a little. Eve immediately realized something was wrong. She ran up to her daughter and began to comb through her white fur. Underneath, Eve saw a number of bruises on Lilly's delicate skin. Lilly had gotten them when falling through the siege tower.

"Oh, my baby, what happened?" Eve said in concern.

"It's nothing, mom," Lilly responded. "I just was running on that ledge up there and I kinda ended up going over it."

"Yeah, that was something to see," Can-do said. Hutch elbowed him.

Too late. Eve was now focusing on them. Her mouth was slowly opening to reveal her sharp teeth. "You two watched my baby hurt herself and did nothing to stop it?"

She began to approach them.

"Mongolia doesn't seem like such a bad idea right now," Can-do said as they began to back away.

"Do you think we could make it before she gets us?" Hutch asked.

"Why don't you two find out?" Eve said threateningly.

Lilly ran between her mother and the Betas. "Wait, mom! Hutch and Can-do actually stopped me from falling off the cliff and they helped me back up. They've been playing with me all day! First, we played with a pine-cone, then we ate some bitter berries and then we were running in the tall grass!"

Eve smiled at her daughter, her previous rage forgotten. "Oh, that sounds nice, dear."

Lilly sat down and began to play with her tail as Eve returned to her mate's side.

"Well, I guess that whole scavenger pack thing was a false alarm," Winston said.

"Typical," Tony complained as he began to leave. "That's why I say we should never go to the regional pack meetings!"

"Am I the only one who thinks it's a good thing they didn't attack?" Humphrey said as Tony pushed past him.

"I just want to get some sleep," Kate responded. They both began walking down the path to their own den. At about the same time, Winston and Eve headed into the den at the top of the cliff.

Garth began to leave as well. "You coming, honey?" he said to Lilly.

"In a minute," Lilly answered.

Now, Lilly, Hutch, and Can-do were alone again. Lilly got up and began to walk down the path.

"But, the scavenger pack did attack," Can-do said. "And you stopped them!"

"Lilly, why didn't you tell your family that you saved Jasper?" Hutch asked.

Lilly looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Because then I'd have to solve all our pack's problems for them."


End file.
